Game apparatus based on simulated rocket flight



Oct. 12, 1965 J. J. KROPINSKI 3,211,459

GAME APPARATUS BASED ON SIMULATED ROCKET FLIGHT Filed March 8, 1963 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

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JOHN J KEOP/Ni/(l BY 22 5a United States Patent G 3,211,459 GAMEAPPARATUS BASED ON SIMULATED ROCKET FLIGHT John J. Kropinski, 4536 39thPlace, Long Island City, N.Y. Filed Mar. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 263,813Claims. (Cl. 273-139) This invention relates to games of the table orparlor type, and more particularly to a game based on simulated rocketflight.

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved gameapparatus for playing a novel game. A more particular object is toprovide a game apparatus having multiple elements of chance, therebyincreasing the variety of play and the interest aroused by the game. Astill further object is to provide a game apparatus, the playing ofwhich is based on simulated rocket flight.

To accomplish the foregoing general objects, and other more specificobjects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in theapparatus elements and their relation one to another, as are hereinaftermore particularly described in the following specification. Thespecification is accompanied by drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the playing area of a game apparatus embodyingfeatures of my invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation drawn to very small scale and showing theapparatus housed in a box;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section taken approximately in the plane of theline 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken approximately in the plane of theline 44 of FIG. 1;-

FIGS. 5 and 6 show typical Change in Flight Plan cards;

FIG. 7 is an elevation of a two-stage scoring peg representing a rocketand capsule;

FIG. 8 shows a scoring disc; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary elevation showing a modified air source.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 3, thegame apparatus comprises an array of seats 12, and an array of controlpoints 14. There are concealed connections, three of which are shown inFIG. 3 at 16, 18 and 20, between the control points 14 and the seats 12.The connections are preferably in random relation. There are also discs22 received in said seats. .Most but not all of the discs have a number,as shown in FIG. 8, in which the disc carries the number 3. Such anumbered discs may be called a Go disc. There is also a means 24 wherebyan operation by a player at a control point 14 causes ejection of a disc22 from the seat 12 which happens to be connected to the particularcontrol point.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, there are a plurality of rows of scoringholes 26, 28, and 32, there being a row for each player. As hereillustrated the game may be played by two, three or four players. Thereis a similar number of scoring pegs for insertion in the holes, such apeg being illustrated at 34 in FIG. 7. As later explained, the scoringpeg is preferably a double or two stage peg, simulating a rocket 34 anda separable capsule 36. Either the rocket and capsule together, or thecapsule alone, may be inserted in a scoring hole.

In preferred form there are additional discs which have no numbers, andwhich correspond to Hold, whereas the numbered Go discs indicate anauthorized advance of the scoring peg along the row of scoring holes.There also may be still other discs which indicate a requirement for achange in flight plan, and for convenience the Go discs, and the Holddiscs, and the Change in Flight Plan discs, may have different andcharacteristic colors. For example, the Go discs may be green, the Holddiscs red, and the Change in Flight Plan discs blue.

A Change in Flight Plan disc requires a player to refer to the next cardin a stack of inverted Change in Flight Plan cards. Two typical cardsare illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.

A simple and inexpensive way to cause ejection of the discs is to use apuff of air coming from a suitable source. Referring to FIG. 3 thesource in this case is an ordinary compressible rubber air bulb 24having a nozzle 40. The control points are sockets dimensioned toreceive the nozzle 40. The connections 16, 18 and 20 are flexibleplastics tubes which are preferably long enough to facilitate randomconnection between the sockets 14 and seats 12. The tubes are thinnerand longer than shown in FIG. 3. For convenience the connections areshown aligned there, which corresponds to a vertical alignment in FIG.1, but it will be understood that the connections may extend laterallyas viewed in FIG. 1, to afford a great variety in the random connectionsbetween sockets and seats. Inasmuch as the tubes are concealed, theplayer does not know which socket corresponds to which seat. Moreover,the tubes are preferably made detachable so that the connections may bechanged from time to time, thus establishing a new random relationbetween sockets and seats. Finally the G0 discs are turned face down inthe seats, so that a player does not know the score value of a disc evenif he knows which socket would eject that disc.

In the particular game apparatus here illustrated there are three rowsof twelve seats each, making thirty-six seats in all, in the upper arrayshown in FIG. 1. The lower array similarly has three rows of twelvesockets each, making thirty-six sockets in all. There are two rows ofscoring holes along the left edge of the board, and two similar rows ofscoring holes along the right edge of the board, each row having thirtyholes. If desired these may be in groups, and in the present case theyare in groups of three. The discs are preferably light in weight, beingmade typically of cardboard. There are twenty scoring or Go discsnumbere from 1 to 5 and colored green; eight Hold discs colored red; andeight Change in Flight Plan discs, or more briefly, Change discs,colored blue. There are four scoring discs with number 1, four with thenumber 2, and so on.

Assuming there are two players, the game may be played as follows. Eachplayer selects a combined capsule-rocket scoring peg, that is, thecapsule section is connected to the rocket section. The twenty greencardboard playing discs that have the numbers from 1 to 5 printed on oneside are placed in seats, with the number side down. They may be placedanywhere on the playing area. Also the eight red discs or Hold discs areplaced in seats. There will be eight recesses that have no discs. Theseare for the eight blue discs, which come into play later in the game.There are a suitable number, in this case twenty, Change in Flight Plancards that are used with the eight blue discs, and which also come intoplay later in the game.

To determine which player goes first, a player places the air bulb intoone of the sockets, squeezing the blub and thereby blowing a disc fromits seat. If no green disc is ejected he changes to a ditferent socketuntil the first green disc is ejected. This will have a.number from 1 to5, say 3. The second player does the same, and the player having thehigher number disc plays first. The two green discs are replaced in anyof the remaining seats, number side down.

The first player places the air bulb into any one of the sockets andsqueezes the bulb. If he blows a green Go disc from its seat, headvances his rocket and capsule scoring peg the number of holesindicated by the blown disc.

If it reads 5 he moves his scoring peg to the fifth hole going upward onhis row of scoring holes. The same player follows the same proceduretwice more for a total of three turns, moving his scoring piece, alongeach time by the number indicated on the ejected Go discs.

If during his three turns he picks a socket and seat that has no playdisc on it he cannot advance because no disc was ejected, but theattempt counts as one of his turns. If three sockets are chosen that arenot connected to seats with discs, all three turns are lost. If heejects one of the eight red or Hold discs the rocket is held up, andagain does not advance. A player can advance solely on the green Godiscs, and the amount of advance is indicated by the number on thediscs. The red Hold discs have no number.

After the first player has completed his three turns his opponent doesthe same, he too having three turns, and advancing his scoringcapsule-rocket accordingly.

The two players alternate their groups of three turns each, as explainedabove. After each players three turns of play, he replaces the discs inseats, the Go discs being face down. Therefore there are twenty-eightdiscs on the playing area at each first turn of the group.

The first player to reach the top of his row of scoring holes hasreached the peak of capsule-rocket flight. He is now ready for hiscapsule to go into orbit. At this point he tells his opponent how manyorbits he intends to make, this being from one to five orbits (the rangeof numbers on the Go discs).

Say that he indicates three orbits. In his turn of three tries atblowing off the playing discs, he must blow off a green Go disc that hasa number 3 on it before he can move. If he is successful in blowing offsuch a Go disc he separates his capsule playing piece from the rocketsection and starts his capsule orbit, using the capsule peg to movethree holes in the adjoining (or same) row of holes to start back downto the starting point. The rocket peg is left in the top hole of therow.

When one player or both players have reached this stage of the game, theeight blue discs are placed in seats. At this point there are thirty-sixdiscs in play, and the Change in Flight Plan cards now also come intoplay. They are stacked face down. If the player who is now in capsuleorbit, in his three turns, blows off a blue disc, he picks up the topChange in Flight Plan card, and does as the card indicates. Thus a cardmay read Oxygen Low, Speed Up, Advance Three Spaces in which case headvances. The card might indicate Red Warning Light Indicated, Slow Up,Go Back Two Spaces, in which case he goes back two holes. The penaltiesare not to exceed going back beyond the capsule orbit starting point,that is, the top of the row.

If only one player is in capsule orbit, the blue discs pertain solely tohis play, and not to his opponent until his opponent gets into capsuleorbit. If the player not in capsule orbit blows off a blue disc, itcounts as one of his three turns, but he does not advance on that disc.

The play continues until one player reaches the bottom hole and so winsthe game. The total travel consists of sixty holes, thirty holes goingup with the combined capsule and rocket, and thirty holes coming downwith the capsule alone.

For three or four players the rules are essentially the same. With threeplayers, three of the four columns of scoring holes are in play. Eachplayer uses one column of holes, thirty holes to go up and thirty holesto come down, using the same row of holes up and down. The playerindicates reaching the top by leaving his rocket piece in the top hole,and then coming down with the capsule.

In the case of four players, each player again uses one row of scoringholes for ascent and descent.

Considering the structural arrangement in greater detail, and referringto FIG. 3, the playing area 42 may be molded out of a plastics material,and may be molded integrally with the peripheral support walls 44. Theboard 42, as molded, may be provided with the seats 12 and sockets 14.Metal eyelets are secured in smaller holes beneath the sockets andseats, as is shown in FIG. 3, and these eyelets detachably receive theends of the flexible tubes. In the present case there are thirty-sixtubes connected in random relation, and that relation may be changedfrom time to time by first inverting the board to gain access to thenormally concealed tubes.

For convenience the board may be housed in a suitable box made forexample of cardboard or wood. FIG. 2 shows the board 42 received in thelower portion 46 of a box, the latter being closed by a cover 48. Bymaking the side walls of the cover higher than that of the board 42,space is provided above the board to receive the bulb 24, the rockets34, the discs 22, and the Change in Flight Plan cards 50.

These cards may be of great variety, and may give the player either abonus or a penalty. Thus, in FIG. 5 the card gives the player a bonus,whereas in FIG. 6 the card penalizes the player.

The air source need not necessarily be a compressible bulb. In FIG. 9 acompressible bellow-s 60 is provided, this being fixedly mounted on theboard 62 and having a flexible discharge tube 64 which is long enough sothat its nozzle end may be inserted in one of the sockets. The bellowsis then pushed downward to eject a disc. Telescopic cylinders or otherforms of pump may be employed instead of a compressible bellows.

It will be understood that the discs may all be of one color, in whichcase the Hold discs may have the word Hold printed thereon, and Changein Flight Plan discs may have the word Change printed thereon. The discsare all placed face downward and the player would not have even the clueof color. Also, even when using differently colored discs, the color maybe applied to the face side only of the disc, the backs of all discsbeing alike. This would serve the same purpose of concealment.Anadvantage of using different colors is that an ejected Go disc mayland with the number side down, and because of the color the playersknow that it should be turned over to see the number.

It will be understood that the rules given above may be modified in manyways. For example, each player may have a lesser or greater number ofturns than three. The number of seats and sockets may be different thanshown, and, similarly, the number of Go discs, Hold discs, and Changediscs may be increased or decreased. The game may be played withoutreplacing the blown discs after each player has had his turn, andconversely, they may be replaced after each blow, instead of after eachgroup of blows. The numbers indicated on the Go discs may have a rangedifferent from the specified range of 1 to 5. A player in orbit whoejects a blue or Change disc may be permitted to select a card at randomfrom the stack, instead of being compelled to take the top card. Thenumber of scoring holes in a column may differ from the thirty hereindicated. A disc may be ejected by means other than compressed air.

It is believed that the construction and method of use of my improvedgame apparatus, as Well as the advantages thereof, will be apparent fromthe foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that WhileI have shown and described the apparatus in a preferred form, changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as soughtto be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Game apparatus comprising an array of seats for discs, an array ofcontrol points for said seats, concealed connections in random relationbetween said control points and said seats, discs to be received in saidseats, some of said discs having a number, and means whereby anoperation by a player at a control point causes ejection of a disc fromthe seat connected to that control point.

2. A game apparatus comprising an array of seats for discs, an array ofsockets, concealed flexible tubes connecting the seats to the sockets inrandom relation, a compressible air source with a nozzle insertable inany socket, and discs to be received in said seats, some of said discshaving a number, the arrangement being such that compression of thesource causes ejection of a disc from its seat.

3. A game apparatus based on simulated rocket flight and comprising anarray of seats for discs, and an array of sockets, flexible tubesconnecting the seats to the sockets, a compressible air source with anozzle insertable in any socket, a stack of Change in Flight Plan cards,and discs to be received in said seats, some of said discs having anumber corresponding to an authorized advance of the rocket, other discshaving no number and corresponding to Hold, and still other discsindicating a requirement for a Change in Flight Plan.

4. Game apparatus comprising an array of seats for discs, an array ofcontrol points for said seats, connections between said control pointsand said seats, discs to be received in said seats, some of said discshaving a number, means whereby an operation by a player at a controlpoint causes ejection of a disc from the seat con nected to that controlpoint, and means whereby the player selecting a control point foroperation does not know what is on the disc to be ejected by saidoperation.

5. A game apparatus comprising an array of seats for discs, an array ofsockets, air passages connecting the seats to the sockets, acompressible air source With a nozzle insertable in any socket, discs tobe received in said seats, some of said discs having a number, thearrangement being such that compression of the source causes ejection ofa disc from its seat, and means whereby a player selecting a socket forcompression of the source at that socket does not known what is on thedisc to be ejected when using that socket.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 143,032 5/20 GreatBritain.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primaly Examiner.

1. GAME APPARATUS COMPRISING AN ARRAY OF SEATS FOR DISCS, AN ARRAY OFCONTROL POINTS FOR SAID SEATS, CONCEALED CONNECTIONS IN RANDOM RELATIONBETWEEN SAID CONTROL POINTS AND SAID SEATS, DISCS TO BE RECEIVED IN SAIDSEATS, SOME OF SAID DISCS HAVING A NUMBER, AND MEANS WHEREBY ANOPERATION BY A PLAYER AT A CONTROL POINT CAUSES EJECTION OF A DISC FROMTHE SEAT CONNECTED TO THAT CONTROL POINT.